Chapter 212 : Why Don’t You Learn Eight Inner Gates?
Pain looked at Deidara and Sasori and said, "When they come in later, if you two can leave, then go. There’s no need to fight that guy to the death."
This time, neither Sasori nor Deidara objected.
When it came to facing Riku, none of them had much confidence.
Especially with Kakashi and Chiyo standing beside him.
As for Naruto and Sakura, they weren’t even being considered in that equation.
The extraction of the One-Tail’s chakra was still ongoing, but it was nearly complete.
Because of Riku’s sudden arrival, the Akatsuki accelerated the process significantly.
After Riku defeated Uchiha Itachi, Chiyo gained a deep understanding of his power.
As a veteran ninja who had lived through three Shinobi World Wars, Chiyo was well aware of how powerful Riku had been in his fight against Uchiha Itachi.
She could tell that Riku hadn’t even gone all out—he was clearly holding back.
He had handled the fight with ease. Chiyo estimated that if she had faced Itachi herself, even if it had only been a clone operating at thirty percent chakra capacity, she wouldn’t have been able to defeat him so effortlessly—if at all.
Despite being a clone, Itachi’s jutsu were still formidable. The clone could replicate all of Itachi’s standard techniques; it simply lacked the chakra to use the Mangekyō Sharingan. The pressure from that alone was enough to overwhelm most high-level shinobi.
So if Chiyo had fought Itachi, she likely wouldn’t have been able to win.
But Riku had defeated him cleanly—smoothly, even.
His combat instincts were terrifying.
Most notably, his speed. Chiyo couldn’t react to his lightning-like movements at all.
Just as Itachi hadn’t been able to.
Kakashi, too, noticed how much Riku had grown in the past few years.
Naruto and Sakura were visibly shocked as they looked at Riku.
But back in Konoha, both of them had already known that Riku’s strength was extraordinary.
Today, they were witnessing the depth of his battle experience.
Back then, they’d seen his raw power and his control over it.
Guy’s battle, on the other hand, had been more intense. Though Kisame was operating with only thirty percent of his chakra, that thirty percent was still massive compared to most shinobi.
The battle dragged on for quite some time before a winner was decided.
In the end, it was Guy opening the Sixth Gate of the Eight Inner Gates that sealed the victory.
It was clear—Kisame’s strength was formidable.
After several hours of travel, Riku, Kakashi, and Chiyo finally arrived at the entrance of the cave where Akatsuki was hiding.
Outside the cave was the familiar white paper seal barrier.
Just as they arrived, Guy’s team also reached the scene.
Before Riku could even say anything, Guy came striding over enthusiastically. "Riku! I didn’t expect you to be here too. With you on this mission, our chances of success have skyrocketed!"
Guy held Riku in high regard.
Although Riku had once refused to study taijutsu under him, Guy had always liked him personally.
Riku was incredibly talented, immensely strong, and easy to get along with—even among high-ranking Jōnin.
And most importantly, he was Kakashi’s personal disciple. Guy knew the relationship Kakashi had with Riku was very different from the one he had with Sasuke.
It was similar to how Guy treated Lee differently from Neji and Tenten.
Riku was Kakashi’s direct disciple—just like Lee was to Guy.
In fact, Guy had originally intended to treat Neji and Tenten as direct disciples as well, but since neither of them could learn the Eight Inner Gates, that honor eventually fell solely to Lee.
Even so, both Kakashi and Guy made no real distinction between direct and indirect disciples in terms of fairness.
But direct disciples did receive everything their masters had to offer—whether ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu.
Because Riku was Kakashi’s personal student, Guy had a strong impression of him.
And he also got along well with Kakashi.
Riku smiled and said, "Guy-sensei, it looks like you’ve just been through a tough fight. Who was your opponent?"
Guy paused, then scratched his chin thoughtfully. "A shark-man... must’ve been one of Akatsuki’s members. Pretty strong."
It was already impressive that Guy remembered Kisame as a shark-man.
You couldn’t really ask for more from him in that department.
Neji and Tenten, standing behind him, looked slightly exasperated.
Still, technically, Guy wasn’t wrong. After all, Kisame had fused with Samehada and did look like a humanoid shark.
When Neji spotted Riku, he commented, "I didn’t expect you to be assigned to this mission too."
At that moment, Neji realized just how important the mission was.
Konoha had dispatched some of its most powerful Jōnin. That alone showed the level of priority the village placed on this operation.
Guy and Kakashi, with Riku alongside them, represented Konoha’s elite.
If you included everyone, even Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi would count among the top-tier Jōnin.
Asuma’s overall abilities were even said to rival Guy’s.
It was just that in pure taijutsu, he couldn’t compare.
He eventually died at Hidan’s hands—not due to lack of strength, but because of critical intelligence failure.
In truth, Asuma had been incredibly strong.
Konoha had several Jōnin who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kakashi and Guy.
But right now, the strongest among them was Riku.
Even if Guy opened the Eight Gates, Riku was considered stronger.
Riku’s base physical prowess already rivaled Guy’s when he opened the Seventh Gate.
In terms of raw strength, Riku had already surpassed the Guy who opened the Eighth Gate—but his Yin-Yang Release hadn’t yet reached Six Paths level. That fell more into the realm of ninjutsu than taijutsu.
The reason Riku never pursued the Eight Inner Gates was simple—his body didn’t have any limitations that required such a technique.
Learning the Eight Gates in Riku’s case would be like being the sole heir to the emperor, inheriting the throne in just a few days, and yet still choosing to rebel. Sure, the result might be the same, but the cost would be unnecessary.
Even with Riku’s powerful body, the Eight Gates would have damaged him.
That technique wasn’t about physical fitness—it was about the body’s ability to endure the Eight Gates.
Training required to learn it was harsh and brutal. It wasn’t meant to improve your physical stats but your tolerance for pain and damage.
Even if Riku’s recovery rate was exceptional, opening the Eight Gates would still injure him.
And unless your taijutsu was honed to an extreme, you wouldn’t be able to unlock the full potential of the Gates anyway. A strong body alone wasn’t enough.
If it were, even someone like Uchiha Madara—who knew about the Eight Gates—would’ve learned it. Many people in the shinobi world had incredible physiques, even better than Guy or Lee.
Yet very few ever attempted to learn it.
Because it had nothing to do with physical strength—it demanded years of excruciatingly difficult taijutsu training.
You had to devote your entire path as a shinobi to physical combat.
But in the modern ninja world, being a taijutsu-only ninja was extremely difficult.
And Riku didn’t need to take that path. His natural growth in strength would eventually reach—or even surpass—the power of the Eight Gates without putting his life on the line.
Instead of spending all his time on taijutsu, he could master more ninjutsu and genjutsu.
Had Riku tried to learn the Eight Gates, he would have eventually hurt himself, regardless of his resilience.
He might not have even lived long enough to reach the Eighth Gate before his body collapsed under the strain.
True strength was built step by step—not gained all at once.
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